Review Fix Exclusive: Inside ‘The First 50 Super Bowls’

Review Fix chats with “The First 50 Super Bowls” author Ed Benkin, who discusses the book and why it’s a must-read for any hardcore football fan.

About: The First 50 Super Bowls:

The Super Bowl redefined American sports. Over the past half century, the NFL’s championship game has grown from humble beginnings to the biggest sporting event of the calendar year—an event that creates legendary stories, from Len Dawson’s conversation with the president to Jim O’Brien’s game-winning kick and Randy White’s post-game duet with Willie Nelson. Covering 50 Super Bowls, from 1966 through 2016, this book gives an insider’s view of each game, with recollections from the people who participated, many told for the first time.

Review Fix: What inspired this book?

Ed Benkin: I always had a great passion watching NFL Films videos and always enjoyed watching the Super Bowl videos every year.  Working in sports broadcasting and covering and NFL team, it tied in that I wanted to try and write a book and with the 50th Super Bowl coming up at the time, it seemed like the right fit

Review Fix: What was the writing and editing experience like for you?

Benkin: A lot of it was a labor of love, but it was also an  enormous project.  With 50 Super Bowls, I needed players and/or coaches on both teams in each game.  I interviewed 102 former or current coaches and players.  It was incredible to hear these men tell their stories after following what they had accomplished.  The hard part was reaching everybody and also transcribing all of the interviews.  Writing the chapters was actually the exciting/easy part because of all of the information and incredible stories that were told.  

Review Fix: Did you learn anything you weren’t expecting?

Benkin: I was surprised and flattered how the players and coaches were so willing to open up about so many things that you would have never known.  The purpose of the book was to do more than describe was you saw in the box score of the games and it went better than I could have ever imagined.  The older players, in particular, were eager to tell their stories.

Review Fix: Favorite Super Bowl game? Why?

Benkin: Since the book is about the first 50 Super Bowls, I guess Super Bowl 52 wouldn’t count because it was after the book, but working as a Philadelphia reporter and covering the Eagles’ first Super Bowl win was a professional  experience that may never be topped.  As far as the first 50, Super Bowl 25 stands out.  Having spent my childhood in Buffalo,   it was the Bills’ first Super Bowl….and it was a one-point classic (even though it did not go Buffalo’s way).  Factor in the patriotism with the Gulf War at the time and was one of the all-time great Super Bowl moments.

Review Fix: Who do you think will enjoy this book the most?

Benkin: If people like to hear great stories, then you’ll like this book.  I like to think it appeals mostly to the football fans but some of the stories told appeal to an even wider audience.

Review Fix:What are your goals for this book?

Benkin: To give people a chance to understand the story behind the games.  Every Super Bowl has it stories (even the blowouts) so I wanted people to understand the games from a different perspective.  I am also hoping it will be a chance for people to  understand  the  significance  of the Super Bowl…not just from a football perspective, but also from a cultural impact.

Review Fix: What’s next for you?

Benkin: The Eagles (and much of the rest of the  Philadelphia  sports world) continue to keep me busy at KYW and WIP in Philadelphia, but I would certainly love to do another book project…..maybe something that does not involve 102 interviews.  Former  Baltimore Colt Mike Curtis was a tremendous help with the book and did the forward for it, so I am thinking about the possibility of reaching out to him about a project  concerning  his life.

Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?

Benkin: Just what an honor and  privilege it was to hear from so many great Super Bowl heroes and to learn more about their Super Bowls that I could ever dream of.  

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13821 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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